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New Short Stats Speak Volumes. That's It

By

Tennille Tracy

Updated Sept. 17, 2009 12:01 a.m. ET

Some information is usually better than none, but investors who track a new set of short-selling data would be well-advised to proceed with care.

U.S. stock exchanges on Aug. 3 started to track and publish "short volume" statistics -- a measurement of daily short sales of stock -- as part of a Securities and Exchange Commission initiative to curb abusive short sales. Potentially abusive sales, which include "naked shorting," have been blamed for turmoil in the stock market and even the 2008 demise of Bear...